[Abridged] Presidential Histories

"In America today, we are nearer a final triumph over poverty than is any other land." - Herbert Hoover.~~~Herbert Hoover made his fortune as a mining engineer, made his name as a humanitarian leader, and lost his reputation as a president. Nobody knew the great Depression was coming when they elected Hoover, but the great irony of his presidency is that, after savings millions of lives as a humanitarian during national and global emergencies, he's the first guy most Americans would have turned to if they had known it was coming. He went above and beyond what any previous  president had dared try to combat a financial panic, but it wasn't enough.Follow along as Hoover goes from being an orphan, to a member of Stanford's inaugural class, to the gold fields of Australia and China, and the boardrooms of Britain, only to shed his business identity for a 15-year career as a humanitarian from Belgium to the Mississippi, and ultimately win the White House, only for a series of economic calamities known as the Great Depression to destroy his administration and reputation. By the time Hoover leaves the White House, his name will be a synonym for homeless encampments.Bibliography1. Hoover: An Extraordinary Life in Extraordinary Times - Kenneth Whyte2. FDR – Jean Edward Smith3. Calvin Coolidge - David Greenberg4. The Moralist: Woodrow Wilson and the World He Made – Patricia O’Toole5. Warren G Harding – John W. Dean6. Truman – David McCullough7. The President and the Assassin: McKinley, Terror, and Empire at the Dawn of the American Century – Scott Miller8. Eisenhower in War and Peace – Jean Edward Smith9. William Howard Taft – Jeffrey Rosen Support the show

History remembers Calvin Coolidge as "Silent Cal," but the notoriously quiet president was also an early adopter of emerging forms of mass media, such as radio and motion picture.  Join me as I talk to historian David Greenberg, author of Calvin Coolidge and Republic of Spin: An Inside History of the American Presidency, about how Coolidge quietly became one of the more effective image manipulators of the early 20th century.Support the show

"The business of America is business." - Calvin Coolidge.~~~Calvin Coolidge had a saying: When you see 10 problems coming down the road, nine will probably go into the ditch on their own. Translation? Don't do anything. But what happens when the one problem that doesn't go into the ditch is the Great Depression?Follow along as Coolidge works his way up the government food chain to VP, becomes president when Harding dies, introduces new tools like radio and motion picture to the presidential PR kit, enjoys one of the most fortuitous presidencies in U.S. history, and then leaves office just in time for the Great Depression to smack Herbert Hoover in the face instead of Cal. Bibliography1. Calvin Coolidge - David Greenberg2. Warren G Harding – John W. Dean3. Hoover: An Extraordinary Life in Extraordinary Times - Kenneth WhyteSupport the show

On a late summer day in September, four podcasters got together to record the first ever History Podcast Friendsgiving Spectacular! Tune in as three respected podcasters join me for a round table discussion of American and presidential history. The other podcasters are:Jerry Landry, Presidencies of the United StatesAlycia, Civics & Coffee Howard Dorre, Plodding through the PresidentsIf you enjoy the format, let us know and we'll look for more collaborative opportunities in the future.Happy Thanksgiving!Support the show

Politicians having affairs is nothing new in the history of the world. But what happens when they're sleeping with an enemy spy?Join me as I talk to author and lawyer James Robenalt, author of The Harding Affair: Love and Espionage During the Great War, about Warren Harding's 15-year affair with Carrie Fulton Phillips, who became an Imperial German spy during World War I; whether we should be concerned about politicians having affairs; and whether Harding deserves a better shake than history has given him.Support the show

First, Warren G Harding was a beloved president.Then, he became synonymous with government corruption.But today, we know him for his sex scandals - scandals that took more than 90 years to fully come to light.Follow along as Harding jumps from the newspaper business to politics, sleeps with a potential german spy, fathers a child out of wedlock with another mistress, wins the presidency at a time of great national turmoil, presides over two of the largest corruption scandals in American history, dies in office, and somehow leaves behind a nation that's in much better shape than how he found it. It's the start of the roaring 20s! This is going to be fun.Bibliography1. Warren G Harding – John W. Dean2. Calvin Coolidge - David Greenberg 3. The Moralist: Woodrow Wilson and the World He Made – Patricia O’Toole4. William Howard Taft – Jeffrey Rosen5. Hoover: An Extraordinary Life in Extraordinary Times - Kenneth Whyte6. T.R. the last Romantic – H.R. BrandsSupport the show

"Who was the biggest presidential bust?""Do any of our presidents have an unvarnished legacy on race?""Which 19th century president would fail under the media scrutiny of today?"You've all been submitting some great questions this summer and today I take some time to answer them. Thank you everyone who participated. Enjoy the show!Support the show

Woodrow Wilson's wives had a tremendous impact on his presidency. His first wife, Ellen Axson Wilson, died the week World War I broke out in Europe, leaving the president so depressed at a moment of crisis that he told aids he wished someone would shoot him. Less than a year later, he was over it, and instead obsessed with his courtship of Edith Bolling Galt, sometimes writing her three letters a day. When a stroke crippled Wilson in the final years of his presidency, it was Edith who cared for him and maintained the illusion that he was still healthy enough for the office - leading some to dub her the first female president.Join me as I talk with White House correspondent Paul Brandus (@WestWingReports on Twitter), author of several books on the presidency and first ladies, about the relationships and influence of Wilson's Wives.Support the show

For the first 128 years of American history, the United States followed the parting advice of its first president, George Washington, to stay out of European wars.That all changed with Woodrow Wilson.Wilson wielded the power of rhetoric to change not just the country's course, but the way Americans thought of themselves - They had a destiny to make the world safe for democracy. But even as Americans embarked on this quest, the ideals Wilson gave life to began to flicker and dim as he succeeded in winning the war, but failed to win the peace.Join me as I talk with Thomas Knock, who is both the chair of the department of history at SMU and a Distinguished Fellow at the Center for Presidential History at SMU, as well as the author of To End All Wars: Woodrow Wilson and the Quest for a New World Order, about Wilson, World War 1, and the quest for a new world order.Support the show

No 20th century president did more to set back racial equality in the United States than Woodrow Wilson. His administration introduced a silent policy of segregating the federal government, and when he finally spoke out about it, he gave weight to a philosophy that was used to rationalize continued segregation for decades more. Join me as I talk with Eric S. Yellin, an associate professor of History and American Studies at the University of Richmond and author of Racism in the Nation’s Service: Government Workers and the Color Line in Woodrow Wilson's America, about the racist legacy of Woodrow Wilson.Support the show